The ability to accurately characterize heat sinks is becoming more important in the electronics industry as design margins decrease and systems become more complex. Although heat sinks can be characterized many ways, there are limitationsassociated with each. The three most common characterization techniques are empirical and theoretical correlations, CFD modeling, and testing.The pros and cons of each of these methods will be discussed from the perspective of the systems thermal engineer. This paper compares analytical prediction approaches with pressure drop data for several device-size heat sinks over a range of air flowrates that result in laminar flow between the fins. The data was obtained both experimentally and by modeling using CFD. The heat sinks were tested in a channel sized to each heat sink, so that the velocity through the heat sink is known.
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